You Have Enough |
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These past three or four years have not been good for many of us. Some of us have lost our jobs. Some of us have had our hours reduced, our pay reduced, and/or our benefits reduced or eliminated. Our retirement accounts, if we have them, haven’t made much progress. Our homes haven’t appreciated in value. And we’ve been concerned…some of us have been worried…about what the future holds for us, our families, and those we love.
We live in uncertain times, and in my opinion will continue to live in uncertain times through the foreseeable future. Some of us have had to reduce, downsize, and contract. Others of us have had to move in with someone (or take someone into our home), sell a car, boat, or motorcycle, and re-adjust our expenses.
Through it all, our defining statement is “We don’t have enough.” We don’t have enough any more to do the things we used to do; to buy the things we used to buy. We don’t have enough to make a new car payment or pay for health insurance. We don’t have enough to take a vacation or put new clothes on ourselves and our children.
And we certainly don’t have enough to give to charity. If I don’t have enough to make a car payment, how can I be expected to give to the Red Cross or the United Way? And how can I at all be expected to give each week to the church?
I want to share with you an insight you may have not thought of before. We do have enough. We have enough because what we have is what God has given us. It is enough.
Now, it may not be enough to make a couple of vehicle payments, buy new clothes, and eat out three times a week. And we may be in trouble financially in part because of unwise choices we have made over the years…and now we are reaping what we have sown. But when we scrape away all of the fluff, all of the excuses, all of the peripherals, all of the explanations, we come to the fact that we have enough because that is what we have…because God has given it to us, and He always gives enough.
The widow Jesus saw at the temple who put about two cents into the treasury had enough. She had enough that she shared what she had with the One who had given it to her in the first place. Jesus said she put in more than all the rest because she gave all she had…yet she had enough because that was what God had given her. She didn’t make any excuses for not giving…not sharing…not being faithful.
I’m going to end with a quote from Dan Reiland: I believe that you need to start with the idea that you have enough. I know that might seem like “pie in the sky” if your actual income is lower than your projected expenses. This always causes stress and pressure. But, I’ll say it again; you need to view what you have as enough, because that is what you have. When you believe “I don’t have enough,” you begin to shortchange your vision and what God can do. I will admit, things can get tough, but you have enough.
Give yourselves away! This is not about how much money you have; it’s about your heart and values. God honors even the most modest of giving into your community, and I think He is pleased with generous giving. Your motivation…is to help those in need…. God has a way of honoring that kind of heart and investment.
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